Yellow Pages United review: advertising scam 31

I feel duped, I too thought I was just updating our yellow pages information and was floored when I saw this ridiculous bill for $396.00 For a service that is free on every search engine. I find this business practice to be totally unethical and I am shocked that the BBB or some government organization has not stepped in to shut down a company who uses deception and the cover of a reputable company like the true yellow pages to market itself. I have cancelled my account like the previous post suggested and printed copies of everything that they have given me and there so-called confirmations. Hopefully this is the end of this scam, but I will not pay a cent and would rather invest my time and money and bring foward a class action lawsuit. Good Luck to you all who have had to endure this headache. melissacruz@lamichoacanapaletas.com

I received many of those "verification" requests and very nearly signed and returned one
thinking it was from Yellowbook. I called Yellow Pages United and spoke with "Jason" who was rude and kept talking over me not allowing me to complain about the mailers. When he told me that Dunn and Bradstreet were responsible to remove me from the mailing list, I raised my voice and informed "Jason" that by law, ANY company sending out solicitations has the individual reaponsibility to delete names from their list upon request or demand. "Jason" told me that he was terminating the call, but he did not AFTER I informed him that I would call the Attorney General if he did, and demanded to speak with supervisor. "kim" got on and behaved in the same rude defensive way as "Jason" but did agree to remove my company's name from the list. I told her that Jason had lied to me about not being able to delete the name from their files and that such false claims are illegal. I filed a complaint with the Atlanta BBB. By the way, a BBB rating is NOT a true indication of a company's worth; one can earn an A+ with the BBB by paying membership dues and addressing the complaints it receives. How do you resolve false advertising?

Yellow Pages United, PO Box 53282, Atlanta GA [protected]
Sending official looking invoices for publication. Uses Yellow Pages name and the walking fingers. More of an approval to be in the directory.

Same problems as listed above - in April of 2016. They have now billed me for $712, even though I never agreed to any kind of purchase. When I called Yellow Pages United, they said they could only cancel my account if I paid. This is a complete and total scam. I originally agreed to a FREE listing, but now they insist that I signed on for a very expensive program. If you look around the web, you will see their name come up with complaints again and again. I did contact the BBB in Florida. Suggest that everyone else does the same.

Same exact complaint. Somehow I confused them with the Yellow Pages ((Yellowpages.com) because it was spelled the same and had the YP logo.
I never signed up for an account and no mention of fees was ever mentioned. I replied and signed up for a correction in my listing. I sell Cubicle Decorations for office cubicles. Somehow they listed me as selling Party Supplies (A natural mistake for ###s)

They have threatened to ding my credit. If I pay who is to say they won't bill me again. They are pirates!

This is April 2016 and I had the same exact experience. Filed a complaint with the BBB and I guess it will be added to the 700+ that are there already, but I will most definitely not pay them a dime. I will follow other's advice and attempt to cancel the service they are providing, since it is not the Yellow Pages, I have no idea what it is. And last I will write this all over to warn other small businesses.
Silver Sky Ranch LLC

8/22/16: just received the same letter this week. obviously, this company is still sending out solicitations. however, at the bottom of the page where you sign, they do state that "this is a solicitation for the order of goods or services, or both, and not a bill... you are under no obligation to make any payments on account of this offer unless you accept this offer."... and they go on to explain there is a $396.00 charge. the small print on back says it will automatically renew twice per year, so you will be charged twice. (it still looks like the famous yp and is certainly misleading.) having that disclaimer at the bottom of the page, probably allows them to continue business as usual. I guess the old axiom is still true: "assume nothing!". I would add, "read everything!" plus, we must all accept the fact that there is not now, never has been and never will be a "free lunch".

Thanks to everyone who posted here. It alerted me to a problem that made me look twice and saved me from wasting much valuable time on further research. It's nice to know that We-The-People are all out here helping each other.

I've had the same exact experience. I called today to tell them I didn't agree to anything for a bill in the amount of $592. I didn't even know at the time that it wasn't the actual yellow pages. I went to the website of my business and it tells me to add information. I didn't even know this page existed. We have called before and I called again today. The woman said there was no record of prior calls. I told her I am not responsible for this balance and I haven't agreed to anything. Her response..."Okay I'll note your account that you are not responsible to pay your bills." I responded with...Do whatever you need but DO NOT CONTACT ME AGAIN! Talk about unprofessional! I just checked their BBB page. They have a B rating but 682 complaints in the last 3 years.

Yes. I think "Yellowpagesunited.com" is a scam websites.

And they just random sent wrong information of you business, and make you think they are the website belong to yellowpages.

After that, they will start charge you without any notice.

They called the wrong information correction return is "Order for the services"

They jeopardize the small business community.

USA Police enforcement need take actions on them.

I got suckered in to this scam a couple of years ago and now recently. This scam was handled by the FTC in 2013. (see article) FTC Stops Online 'Yellow Pages' Scam; Canada-Based Operation Targeted Small Businesses and Churches in United States
FOR RELEASE
November 19, 2013https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2013/11/ftc-stops-online-yellow-pages-scam-canada-based-operation

I don't know why but it has raised it's ugly head once again!

Fell for it too... Trying to log on to my account now and cancel the account. But once i click on the account management link it took me to a page stating the page it's been move or deleted... Dont know what to do. Called them over 3-4 times it ran for like 10 mins and it stops by it self.

Fell for it also. Signed the card thinking it was just a correction for the free yellow page listing. Followed the suggestion for canceling my account and got the zeroed out account balance, so hopefully this is the end of yet another learning experience. Will call the BBB and Attorney General just for good measure. Hope no one else has to go through this...

Just don"t pay them> there is no website that they publish as well... then report them again on the ftc website.

I too thought i was updating YP free now I'm getting a bill for $396.00

Same issue with me, I thought I was making a simple correction. I just received a bill for $259. I would NEVER pay yellow pages for their advertising, mainly because they are never used beyond Google.

I just did this and if you got duped you need to also! This worked for me and it took only a few minutes. @woodroad has it down to the letter I followed his exact instructions and it all worked. I too thought it was the "Yellow Pages" instead of the Yellow Pages United and got a bill for the shocking amount of $396 of which I did not know how I was going to cover. I thought I too was merely updating my line listing and when they sent the invoice it stated it was for an Enhanced listing and the letter for the Access to the Website etc. came separately. I have that covered and was going to call them when I decided to see if there were any scam reports or complaints and found this. This was a the answer and yes this is a underhanded way to get money from unsuspecting businesses and entrepreneurs trying to launch businesses. I got my confirmation emails stating my account is cancelled and a zero balance as well as removal from mailing lists. And I printed the page showing online it was cancelled.
Do this and be glad you didn't pay the bill is right! Thank you!

I am another way too busy small business owner that fell for this as well. Having only recently bought the business I am overwhelmed with a million things and lots of red tape from all angles. I simply thought it was something I needed to do to update the listing. I am happy to see I am not the first and eternally grateful to have found this website for commiseration and for all of the helpful advice. I too confused it with the Yellow Book/yellow pages and that is of course what they are counting on and hoping for. I followed the instructions of @woodroad and was able to cancel and receive a confirmation page stating my account had been cancelled and that I had a zero balance. This practice should be illegal. I am not sure how they continue to operate after reading these comments. I wonder how many people just pay the invoice and feel they learned a lesson the hard way? I hope they research it like I/we all did and realize not to pay and simply cancel. Again, thank you for the help and I intend to be much more careful to read all the fine print no matter how busy I am !

Yellow Page United sent a form by mail to my office (like they do to most people who have complained here and in other webpages), to correct a personal and business information with some fine print at the bottom of the form which apparently was some kind of agreement for service which does specify the amount anywhere. Regardless of how much they charge or not for whatever service they provide, the form is very misleading and I really believe it was made with the purpose of capturing fool clients that don't pay attention to the fine print and believe this is a simple free service to update " yellow pages" information since their logo and name are extremely close. A month later of course they billed you for an amount in the $300 and to be more specific in my case $396. I don't event remember if it was me of my assistant who fill the form an used my physician stamp for that purpose but either way that was not what I was expecting. Apparently they have sent several bills, some I didn't see and they claim they called my office which I can easily disproved because I have an extremely efficient office staff and after certain hours the phone calls go to my personal phone. The last bill I received was for a total amount of
$ 1, 188 that was reduced to $ 792 after a very heated conversation with one of the customer service employee ( which she was extremely rude and pit-bull-like attitude).
I am very disappointed with this tactic of getting clients. I don't even know who would want to advertise with this company for a ridiculous amount. I am still debating if I should pay then so I don't have to hear from them ever again in my life or contact my business lawyer to take care of it.

Same here... thought I was updating my info and got a bill. However, they auto renewed me the next year (or maybe two years later) never canceled subscription. So called and complained. They then lowered the bill to the original fee of $396. Trying to decide if this will ever go away. The bill keeps coming but I do not want to pay... probably won't after reading this page.

I fell for the scam also. I got what looked like yellow pages (local) postcard- filled it out to add my website and within about 3-4 weeks was sent a letter with a photocopy of the card I sent back. My signature and all. The letter was sent as an invoice with payment due in 7 days. I didn't recall ordering any extra service. I found this and other websites complaining about this. I went ahead and signed into the yellow pages united website to cancel. I was able to cancel said account which dropped to a zero balance. It should be noted that I had to sign in with invoice number and do what looked like setting up the account online. I used a junk email account to submit my information. I was then taken to another website to reach the actual "account" setup for my business. I selected "account" (once signed in)- then "manage account" and it took another couple steps to get the zero account balance. After, I logged in again to confirm it- and it did state my account was canceled and reflected a zero balance. This company is very sneaky in their initial mailer. Their websites look official but I have yet to hear about anyone saying this service boosted business- it does not look like there is much to support in what ways they actually help a business.

Thank you for your comments. What you said above worked.
I signed into my BizYellow Website, located on the unethical invoice and reluctantly signed in. I went to Account Settings (right top of the home page) and there was an option to cancel it.
Once cancelled, the balance went down to $0

When I contested the account, they sent me a copy of listing order. It had a signature, sure enough, but it wasn't mine!
It was a forged signature of my name!
I then sent back the "order" and said NOT MY SIGNATURE, they quickly sent back a letter confirming my cancellation.

I called and they told me they wouldn't cancel until I paid. And they would continue to rack up money and send me to collections and screw my credit. But if I paid the initial $396.00 then they'd cancel and not charge further...
I received the note card in the mail which needed correction since they had our (obvious) landscaping company under antique dealers heading and I thought it was YP.
YP has gone through so many permutation in their name I thought this was just another one and that I needed to correct and send back the card. I did NOT realize I was signing up for anything or was being charged anything. Now that they're holding me hostage I pretty much HAVE to pay...

They sent a bill and said I made an order that was not true. Then in small print they said, that you was not obligated. I looked it up on computer or would not have seen this.

Thank you to everyone. Just cancelled my subscription. I can't believe these dishonest people, and don't know how they even stay in business. terrible.

Like so many others, I usually just threw these notices away, but last January I thought it pertained to the free Yellow Pages ad I had always received for my business, so I corrected the address and signed it. I wasn't wearing my glasses so I didn't see the tiny print at the bottom. A little later I think they called me and when I found out that there was a $300+ charge I told the agent to cancel the order. Then yesterday I received a "over due" invoice for $792! I couldn't sleep all night but the comments on this page helped me settle down. Early in the morning I called Yellow Pages United 's toll free number and talked to the agency. She was very nice and actually cancelled my order, giving me a cancellation number. Let's hope that's the end of it. I am glad that I contacted them directly because they were accommodating.

Listen to this. It's hard to believe but it's true. This scam organization faked my business partner's signature but called me and sent me "our sign up letter" with the fake signature on it and incorrect information trying to prove that we have an account with them. I said we never needed advertising and never applied for something like that. And they said, ok then, pay the balance of $792 and we will cancell the service. WHAT!?!? How does this exist? Who is responsible for putting all these people in jail?